Yes... Another hair algae thread

KSreefster

KSreefster

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Hi all, Please help with hair algae issue:

1. The thank is 6 months old

2. It was started with 22 KG's dead reef rock (not 'cooked' before inserted, only rinsed) and 18 KG's of aragalive as substrate

3. Waterflow consists of 1 WP40, 1 5000l sunsun and 4000l /h waveline DC return pump

4. Lighting are LED's and switches on at 07:00 and off at 17:00

5. Nitrates are below 3ppm, phosphates showing 0 but probably gets consumed by the algae , using salifert kits

6. Carbon and ammonia stones in small reactor

7. TS2 skimmer, very aggressive skimming

8. Water : we are buying water due to the fact that our RO/DI unit only produces about 1L /day. The other day I noticed that the water we are adding has a TDS reading of 100 something (can't remember exact measurement), is this the culprit to our problem?

9. Feeding 2 frozen cubes every morning

Any other questions about the tank ask away or go check out the tank at : KSreefster and Pcs's 650 cube
 
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Freshwater is culprit number one TDS should be below 10 closer to 0 is obviously best. And secondly frozen food is second culprit you might cut back on giving such alot of frozen food at a time and everyday.
 
TDS is to high. When feeding frozen food make sure only feeding what can be eaten quick.. I buy RO from oasis.. have no issues.. where u buying ur ro water from
 
KSreefster said:
Yea we are thinking going that route, but can you top up with saltwater? Wouldn't the salinity rise
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a friend from hermanus collects nsw and then mixes with ro to get the sg right ... @Charl_Stanhope .
he does water changes though
.


remember ... salt does not evaporate so adding more salt implies raising the salinity ...
topping up is usually done with ro
 
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The problem is nutrient export. From the listed filtration I do not see any nutrient export which means phosphate and nitrate will always be available for hair algae to grow.

There need to be something that will outcompete the hair algae. Biocubes, ats, phosphate removers are all options.

Feeding less will slow the addition of phos and nitrate but without export you will land in the same place.

TDS of 100 does not necessarily mean nitrate or phosphate is present. 0 is best because you are adding 100 of something which is unknown in the mix...you can test ammonia, phosphate and nitrate of the new water before adding to be sure it is part of the problem
 
reef addict said:
TDS is to high. When feeding frozen food make sure only feeding what can be eaten quick.. I buy RO from oasis.. have no issues.. where u buying ur ro water from
Click to expand...

Here's a question you could maybe help me with. My tank is 2 months old and I also get hair algae - not loads but it is very visible.

The TDS coming from my RO unit is 0 but I fill up two 25litre drums that I use for RO water and also water changes, so after it goes into these containers the TDS is typically 16-24. I figure it's probably due to the salt or tank water that is still present in the drum when I start making RO. IS that a problem or is the fact that the RO water is 0 to start with ok ?
 
Actually tested the tds from my ro now for the first time in 6 months and sitting at 49. I do not have hair algae issues, feed a lot. I run biocubes, ats, dsb.

I think you should be fine, but all systems are different in their own way and too many factors play a role, not only RO. Main thing is export what you put in. Most people say put in less then there is less to export, which is correct but not the only way.
 
Riaanv said:
Actually tested the tds from my ro now for the first time in 6 months and sitting at 49. I do not have hair algae issues, feed a lot. I run biocubes, ats, dsb.

I think you should be fine, but all systems are different in their own way and too many factors play a role, not only RO. Main thing is export what you put in. Most people say put in less then there is less to export, which is correct but not the only way.
Click to expand...

I have started running bio cubes ... but only been going for 3 weeks.

I actually haven't tested any parameters in about 5 weeks ... think it's time to do so
 
Agree, regular testing can reveal potential issues and action cab be taken before they get out of hand. Having said that a TDS of 49 is not an issue I will be replacing RO filters to get back to 0. If my phosphate increases to 0.03 I replace the phos remover. Neglected this once and struggled for two months with dinoflagellates....
 
Also consider adding a chaeto ball and light to your sump. Will help in the long run.

Maybe a dumb question, but have you tied the tube down with the yellow string, tight. Should stay down then?
Do you have enough cubes for your water volume? Initially I had too little and did not see results.
 
A lot of guys in PE use nsw including myself.

If you struggle to keep up with RO water there is a shop next to Ultimates that sells RO water at a good price, just take a 25lt drum with you.
 
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